and in consequence the family moved to the plantation on
the bank of Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, where the father's
headquarters were to be. As he was devoted to his children, he
generally kept them with him when he was off duty, and many times took
them out in his little sail boat on the lake in the fiercest kind of
storms, storms so severe that sometimes they could not even get home,
but would spend the night on an island, warmly wrapped in a heavy sail,
or tucked up under a protecting coverlet of sand. When he was blamed
for this, he always answered:

"Now is the time to conquer their fears," and continued to take his
boys on such excursions as before.

One day while George Farragut was out on the lake fishing, he saw an
old man in a boat alone and evidently sick.

Pulling alongside of him, Farragut found him unconscious, and towing
his boat to shore, carried him to the house, where Elizabeth Farragut
nursed him with as tender care as if he had been her father. His
disease was yellow fever, and in five days he died, and brave Elizabeth
Farragut survived him by only a few days, having caught the disease
while nursing him.

A sad day that was for the poor widower who was left with five
motherless children to care for, and it is small wonder that he
scarcely knew where to turn. While he was still dazed by his burden of
grief, a stranger came to the desolate little home on the lake, and
asked to see Mr. Farragut. He was Capt. Porter, the son of the old man
who had been cared for in his last sickness by the Farraguts, and his
son had come to express his gratitude for their kindness, and to offer
to adopt one of the boys, as a token of appreciation, if Mr. Farragut
was willing to give one up.

Although it meant final parting with his boy, and that was not easy,
George Farragut felt it was a wise thing to do, and as his eldest son,
William, was already in the navy, David was the next to accept the
offered advantage. Captain Porter was at that time in command of the
naval station at New Orleans, and his showy uniform made a great
impression on little David, who though sad at leaving his father and
brothers, was eager to go with this handsome new guardian, and as soon
as the farewells were said, and his slender wardrobe was packed,
Captain Porter took him away with him to his home in New Orleans, and
from there to Washington where he was placed in a good school.

Farragut was a bright, intelligent boy, with a